


Operation: Help Shuuichi

by awakened_treepanda



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hope's Peak Academy (Dangan Ronpa), Fluff (I guess), Gen, Just a sweet little oneshot, M/M, No Explicitly Mentioned V3 Main Story Spoilers, Platonic Relationships, free time event spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 10:15:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15861603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awakened_treepanda/pseuds/awakened_treepanda
Summary: “Do...we have a deal?”“...”“I don’t have all day, y’know.”“...Yeah. Yeah, dammit, deal. I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this…”“Me neither.”





	Operation: Help Shuuichi

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AshNine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshNine/gifts).



> A friend had joked that they'd like to read a fic about Kokichi stealing Kaito's socks.
> 
> I wanted to write something for that friend for a challenge on the Danganronpa Amino.
> 
> Thus, the birth of this fic.
> 
> ...
> 
> Hey y'all. Panda here, bringing to you a cute little platonic oneshot about Kokichi, Kaito, and Shuuichi. Aside from it being a challenge entry, this fic doesn't really have any meaning whatsoever, so read if you seek fluff and happiness. 
> 
> Okay, enough of that.  
> ~Panda

It all started with Kaito’s socks.

  


Shuuichi rested his head on the smooth, cold surface of his desk, using his arms as a makeshift cushion. He was just about to drift off when the classroom door slammed open, alerting the Ultimates in the classroom to one irritated Kaito Momota.

  


“Who the hell took my socks?!” the astronaut-in-training shouted.

  


His declaration was met with silence.

  


“I’m being serious here! Which one of you stole my limited edition NASA socks?!” he huffed angrily, walking into the classroom and giving each of its occupants a suspicious glance. The tall male made his way to Shuuichi’s desk before promptly slamming his hands on either side of the table, causing the detective to flinch and sit upright.

  


“A-ah! Momota-kun, what—” 

  


“Saihara! This is no time to be sleeping!” the Ultimate’s voice boomed, erasing any remaining trace of drowsiness from his mind, “You gotta find the culprit of this theft!”

  


Rubbing his eyes, Shuuichi released a yawn before assessing the situation before him. So his best friend just barged into the classroom and demanded for him to find his socks.

  


_...What?_

  


“W-wait a minute, Momota-kun. Tell me about what happened first,” the detective asked in an attempt to calm down the seething male.

  


“Oh yeah! Alright,” Kaito grinned, the anger in his features disappearing as he took the seat in front of him, “So I was rummaging through my closet this morning because I wanted to wear my NASA socks today, but I couldn’t find them at all. I swear somebody stole ‘em!”

  


“Or you just misplaced them,” Maki helpfully pointed out, daring to join the conversation.

  


The space enthusiast shook his head profusely, “No way, Maki Roll. I’m positive that I placed them there!”

  


As the pair bickered, Shuuichi massaged his temples with a groan. As much as he wanted to help his friend, he had to admit that this was irritating him. Normally, he was very patient with his classmates, especially the eccentric ones, but the numerous cases he was dealing with was stressing him out a lot more than usual. Hope’s Peak Academy may have been a school for the privileged and talented, but that didn’t mean it went easy on its students. The assignments given to each of its Ultimates were challenging to say the least, from Kirumi receiving a request to serve the supposedly intolerable U.S. president to Rantarou being assigned to travel to a dozen different countries in the span of a week. Even his upperclassman, Kirigiri Kyouko, began showing signs of stress whenever they met to discuss about certain cases. The apprentice detective was already sleep-deprived after spending the night reading through gruesome case files; he didn’t have it in him to deal with this. 

  


“Momota-kun…” Shuuichi started, drawing the attention of the taller male, “I’m very sorry, but can we discuss this later? I’m really tired right now.”

  


Kaito blinked, as though he had just noticed the dark eye bags adorning the other’s face, “Man, Saihara, you look dead—” 

  


“Thanks for stating the obvious, Momota-kun,” the detective muttered under his breath.

  


“—But I know that you can find my socks!” he continued, oblivious to Shuuichi’s displeasure, “I believe in you! This’ll be a cakewalk for the Ultimate Astronaut’s sidekick!”

  


Said sidekick responded with a blank stare.

  


Kaito grinned, though he at least had the decency to look guilty, “C’mon, man. Something mundane like this ought to help you relax from the high-strung cases you’ve been dealing with, right?”

  


The detective glared at him but took the suggestion into consideration. Maybe he did need a break? He _had_ been spending a lot of time working on cases that only proved to dampen his already dampened mood, so perhaps something unremarkable and ordinary might help him soft reset.

  


“...Yeah. Okay, I’ll do it,” he uttered with a small smile.

  


The astronaut-in-training pumped his fist in the air, “Alright! I knew my sidekick would come through!”

  


The tired male sighed, but focused his gaze on his new client, “Okay, so…”

  


As the class calmed down from Kaito’s initial outburst and the boys further discussed the finer details of the theft, no one noticed a certain white-clad male smirk from where he sat on his desk, eavesdropping on their conversation. He sent a wink towards his fellow purplenette, receiving a thumbs up from underneath the oblivious detective’s desk in reply.

  


_Phase 1, complete._

  


* * *

  


Shuuichi had a feeling there was more to this case than meets the eye.

  


Classes hadn’t started when Kaito had asked him to find his socks, and they had agreed to investigate after school was out, but shortly before lunch break ended…

  


“Saaaaaihaaara-chaaaaan!” Kokichi called obnoxiously, stopping the detective in his tracks as he was walking down the hallway, “This is terrible! More terrible than the The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History!” 

  


“Where did you even come up with that name?” The taller male asked before noticing something amiss with the other’s outfit, “Wait, did you lose your bandana?”

  


“I lost my bandana!” The Supreme Leader parroted unnecessarily.

  


True to Kokichi’s word for once, the checkered cloth normally tied around his neck was nowhere to be seen, exposing his pale neck and torn collar.

  


“...Are you sure you lost it?” The detective asked, skeptic. 

  


The purplenette gasped dramatically. “Is my beloved Saihara-chan accusing me of lying?!” Tears began forming in his eyes. “H-How p-presumptuous! I may be a-a liar, but I l-love my bandana m-more that anything!” He stuttered out before wailing like a kid that had dropped their ice cream.

  


“Ouma-kun, you willingly gave up on wearing your bandana for a day for one bottle of Panta,” Shuuichi reminded him. 

  


As quickly as they came, the crocodile tears ceased flowing. “Oh yeah, I forgot about that,” the liar giggled, unsurprisingly insincere, before holding his fists in front of his chest indignantly, “But I’m really not lying this time, I swear! I left my bandana in the bathroom after washing my face, and when I realized and went to fetch it later, it was gone!”

  


_...That sounded like a lie, but he does seem to be genuinely upset,_ the detective mused.

  


“...Alright, I believe you,” Shuuichi relented, bringing a wide smile to the shorter male’s face, “but I won’t help you find it until you actually tell me the truth of how you lost it.”

  


The purplenette pouted. “Aww, you saw through my lie so easily. Welp, I got your consent, so it’s fine!” he exclaimed before dragging the taller of the two in the direction of their classroom, “Lunch break’s almost over, so I’ll tell you about it on the way, and I’ll only say it once, got it?!” 

  


The detective rolled his eyes and nodded, allowing himself to get dragged along as he listened to Kokichi’s confusing testimony. First, Kaito’s socks, then Kokichi’s bandana? This succession of thefts probably wasn’t a coincidence, and that thought made Shuuichi feel a twinge of excitement. Was this where the culprit stopped? Were more things going to disappear?

  


He couldn’t wait to find out.

  


* * *

  


Over the next week or so, Shuuichi quickly noticed a trend.

  


Every morning before class started, someone would declare that they had lost something of importance to them. On the same day before lunch break ended, one of his classmates would find him and report that they had lost something of value to them as well. It seemed as though Kaito and Kokichi had started a trend, because every victim had gone to him, seeking for help to find what had been taken away from them.

  


Scratching his head in frustration, the detective sighed, leaning back onto his desk chair as he enjoyed the peace of his dorm room. So far, fourteen of his classmates had fallen prey to this unknown thief. He had yet to figure out their stealing method and how they got away with it, but as more of his class became victims, more items get stolen, and that would be the key to solving this mystery.

  


Written neatly in his loopy cursive, a list of the victims and their lost items laid on his desk:

  


**Kaito - limited edition NASA socks**

**Kokichi - checkered bandana**

**Ryoma - worn tennis ball from lover**

**Kaede - sheet music signed by favorite composer**

**Angie - Atua-blessed sculpting pick**

**Korekiyo - copy of Caged Child Village document**

**Rantarou - bracelet made by sister**

**Tenko - black belt from master**

**Miu - flash drive containing (lewd) blueprints**

**Kirumi - day planner**

**Maki - handkerchief sewn by kids at orphanage**

**Gonta - field journal**

**Tsumugi - loop turner**

**Himiko - ‘ancient’ tome about the arcane arts**

  


As Shuuichi studied the list, many theories formed in his mind, but each were shot down until one possibility remained. The thief seemed to be following a trend when stealing each item, but if that were true, then there was a single inconsistency in the requisites for what item was to be stolen. He couldn’t be sure of his theory until the culprit stole an item from the other remaining spotless, but if his deductions were accurate, then the *culprits* had a lot of explaining to do.

  


With that thought in mind, the detective stood, turning his lamp off and crawling into bed to have a well-deserved rest.

  


* * *

  


Shuuichi had figured it out.

  


Hurriedly, the male in black traversed the hallways, his destination being his own room. Earlier, a distressed Kiibo had just informed him of his missing omamori charm— 

  


_“It was a present from my creator! We went to a shrine and I chose the one that repels evil because I thought it would help me with Ouma-kun!”_

  


—And the item stolen finally solidified the thief’s identity. Now, if he had guessed correctly, the culprit should be stealing something from the last student, which was coincidentally (or was it?), Shuuichi. Determined, the detective hastened his pace, geared towards catching the thief red-handed.

  


He took a sharp turn, growing ever closer to his room. One more turn and he ought to see— 

  


“Oh, Saihara!”

  


_Ah, of course he’d be here too._

  


“Momota-kun,” Shuuichi greeted, “What’re you doing here?”

  


The astronaut-in-training scratched the back of his neck in a casual manner, “Oh, y’know, just left something in my room.”

  


The shorter of the two nodded, though his eyes revealed his skepticism. “Ah, I see,” he replied before moving to walk past him, “I’m in the mood to read a novel, so I’m just gonna go to my room and—” 

  


The detective was halted both physically and verbally by Kaito’s quick reaction, “Hey, you shouldn’t spend such a nice day buried in a book!” he declared, though a quick look to the side clearly displayed the drizzling rain, “You should spend some time with me! I’ve been meaning to tell you about this one time where—” 

  


“Momota-kun,” Shuuichi uttered humorlessly, cutting the other off before it was too late, “You can stop now.”

  


Kaito blinked innocently, panic vaguely evident on his features, “H-Huh? Stop what, Sai—”

  


The detective, in a rare moment of physical prowess, ran past the space enthusiast, dashing to his dorm room as his ex-conversation partner gave chase. He made a smooth turn, just in time to see— 

  


“Ah, Saihara-chan,” Kokichi stated nonchalantly, as though he wasn’t relocking his dorm room with Shuuichi’s hat perched atop his head. 

  


“I knew it,” The detective muttered just as Kaito caught up with him, “You were behind the thefts all along.”

  


The Supreme Leader smiled but decided to play dumb, “Ehhh, but how are so sure that I’m the one who stole everything? There could be multiple thieves—”

  


“Sorry, but that’s wrong,” Shuuichi refuted, “It’s unlikely that the culprit was anyone other than you, Ouma-kun. Only you’d be able to choose things that are specifically important, but not irreplaceable to their owners. You’ve also shown in various instances that you were able to pick the locks of our dorm rooms.”

  


The short male shrugged. “But that’s not enough evidence to pin me as the culprit, Saihara-chan,” he argued teasingly.

  


The detective smiled knowingly. “Normally that would be true, but the items you chose to steal gives you away,” he explained, “While all the objects are important to varying degrees, most of them are difficult to procure except for two things: my hat,” he pointed towards the accessory on the other’s head before lowering his arm, “and your bandana. You specifically chose these two items to show that I was the detective and you were the thief of this case.”

  


When Shuuichi finished explaining his deduction, Kokichi responded with an unreadable expression. The lack of a reaction caused doubt to fill his chest as he mulled over his reasoning again and again. _Did he overlook some—_

  


“Wow, Saihara-chan really is the Ultimate Detective!” the Supreme Leader complimented enthusiastically, “Buuut you missed something, my beloved.” Almost frighteningly, his expression quickly transformed into one of disappointment.

  


Said detective almost panicked until he remembered that they weren’t alone, “Ah, you mean your partnership with Momota-kun,” he guessed, the mentioned male flinching in response.

  


“W-What are you talking about, Saihara?” the taller purplenette asked weakly, “I’m not involved in this at all—”

  


“That’s a lie,” Shuuichi stated, matter-of-factly, “You seemed too adamant to have me find your socks, of all things. They were probably fairly important to you, but I don’t think you would’ve bothered me right away, knowing that I was already exhausted from my cases.” 

  


The astronaut-in-training opened his mouth to spout another poor lie, but Kokichi interjected by slamming his palms together, “Okay, that’s enough, Momota-chan. You know we can’t fool our detective any longer.”

  


Reluctantly, Kaito lowered his head. “Yeah, fine. I worked with Ouma to do this ‘unknown thief’ mystery. I’m sorry for lying to my sidekick,” he muttered guiltily, moving over to stand by Kokichi and forcing the shorter purplenette to do the same, his protests as clear as day.

  


Shuuichi blushed bashfully, waving his hands in denial. “No, no! It’s alright, you don’t have to do that!” he stuttered with embarrassment as the two culprits raised their heads, Kokichi sticking his tongue out to the other, who responded by giving him a noogie, “I mean, you should probably apologize to the others, but solving this mystery was actually pretty fun. I just want to know why you two went through the trouble of preparing this mystery for me to solve.” The detective inquired curiously, genuinely unaware of their true intentions.

  


The two purplenettes blinked in surprise before the shorter male giggled uncontrollably, “Oh, my beloved Saihara-chan, it looks like you still have a ways to go as a detective.”

  


The taller male, surprisingly, nodded in agreement. “Yeah, Saihara. I thought it was pretty obvious.”

  


“Huh?” Shuuichi replied dumbly, earning him laughs from both of his companions.

  


“We did this for you!” the purple duo said in sync before they looked at each other, disbelief and disgust etched on their faces.

  


Kaito cleared his throat. “You’ve been pretty stressed out from working on your cases lately, so I wanted to do something for my precious sidekick!”

  


Kokichi rolled his eyes but continued, “and it just so happened that I had been thinking of the same thing, so together, we formed the Mystery Game Makers—”

  


“Ugh, Ouma, your naming sense sucks,” The astronaut-in-training remarked.

  


“—and we, and by that I mean me, came up with this little case for you to solve to help you destress and have some fun!” the Supreme Leader finished, shamelessly insulting his partner.

  


Before the taller purplenette could respond, the detective cut in, “Wait, you guys did this for me?” He asked, astonished, “I thought you both, um, strongly disliked each other, so why would you work together for something like this?”

  


Kokichi and Kaito took a moment to give each other a look, reminiscent of a silent conversation. Eventually, both nodded and turned to him, their usual banter absent.

  


“Saihara-chan,” The shorter of the two started, “If there’s one thing Momota-chan and I have in common, it’s our fondness for you.” He stated honestly, an unusual sight to see.

  


“I hate to admit it, but he’s right,” The taller of the two followed, “We both have our hang-ups with each other, but we’re willing to set them aside for you, Saihara. You deserve it.” He held a thumbs up, grinning wildly.

  


Shuuichi stared at them, frozen, as he processed their words. While he did play along with Kokichi’s antics and listen to Kaito’s incessant ramblings about space, he didn’t think that they would both come to treasure their friendship as much as he did. The Supreme Leader and astronaut were like polar opposites in terms of beliefs, methods, and even height, but both were good people that he’d come to understand and appreciate. He knew that they at least liked hanging out with him, but he didn’t think that they’d go so far just to cheer him up.

  


Overcome with emotion, the detective failed to notice the small beads of water form in his eyes until they ran down his cheeks smoothly. As he was about to wipe them away, he was suddenly enveloped in comforting warmth. 

  


He almost couldn’t believe it, but his eyes weren’t lying when they informed him that he was now being hugged by both Kokichi and Kaito. 

  


The two offered no words, allowing their actions to speak for them. Shuuichi was thoroughly caught off-guard by the gesture, but chose not to question it and instead enjoy the moment while it lasted. He hadn’t expected to meet such good friends during his time at Hope’s Peak, but he certainly wasn’t complaining.

  


And to think that this all started with a pair of socks.

**Author's Note:**

> I liked how this turned out. Y'all better comment your favorite lines, because some parts were pretty hilarious. 
> 
> Find me on the Danganronpa Amino @[Awakened]Panda.  
> ~Panda


End file.
